Extra! Extra! 1/7
Hi, all!
It’s way too late at night and I’m supposed to be sleeping, so I’ll keep it quick: below please find a long list of great stuff that happened this week. Focussing on it will help lift our spirits, build our morale, and make us better able to share the good news with others, so let’s make sure to read it repeatedly, slowly, and thoroughly! And then let’s share it widely!
As always, I’ve placed a little 🪓 after every win that was brought about in part—or completely—by the hard work of activists like us. I’ve also put an 🪓 after items that happened because of politicians we helped elect.
Every time you see an 🪓, my friends, stand a little taller. That’s ALL YOU. Thank you.
Enjoy!
Jess
Read This 📖
This is really heartening.
And this recap of 2023 wins is great!
Celebrate This! 🎉
The final, final tally on our Run For Something matching fund fundraiser is in: 57K!!!!!! 🤯😳🤩 I’m stunned, you guys! THANK YOU SO MUCH! (Oh, and keep your ears out for a new campaign tomorrow! ) 🪓
California’s law banning the sale of new gas-powered lawn care equipment took effect on January 1st. 🪓
Whoa! 65 cities, counties, and states raised their minimum wages on January 1—most reaching or exceeding $15! “These increases are the result of underpaid workers organizing, demanding, and winning higher wages over the past decade.” Another 20 will join them by the end of 2024. 🪓
The Israeli Supreme Court, by the narrowest of margins, delivered its most consequential ruling in the nation’s history, finding that the ruling party’s attempted changes to the Basic Law, which would strip the Court of the right to review many laws and appointments, were illegal and unenforceable.
North Carolina State University researchers have developed biodegradable materials that could aid efforts to reduce plastic film, like ones used in grocery bags.
Republican Bill Johnson submitted his resignation to the House of Representatives — effective Jan. 21.The Republican majority will then go to 219, meaning Republicans will only be able to lose two votes.
Former county clerk Kim Davis, who refused to issue marriage licenses in Kentucky to same-sex couples, must pay a total of $260,104 in fees and expenses to attorneys who represented one couple, according to a federal judge’s ruling. That’s in addition to $100,000 in damages a jury said the former Rowan County clerk must pay the couple who sued.
A new law that took effect this week will prohibit some insurers from charging patients deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for abortion care in Maine. 🪓
Gas prices have now fallen under 3 dollars a gallon at majority of U.S. stations. 🪓
Two new California laws will be taking effect in January that will make drugs that reverse the effects of opioid overdoses easier to access in certain places and updates the so-called good Samaritan law to include those who administer anti-overdose medication. 🪓
A “fairy lantern,” a plant believed to be extinct for 30 years, has been found in Japan.
The Utah State Legislature has unanimously approved a bill that enshrines into law a ban on LGBTQ conversion therapy. 🪓
Yusef Salaam, one of the Central Park Five wrongly imprisoned for rape in the 1990s, took his oath as a member of New York’s City Council. 🪓
A Wisconsin trial court issued a major win to voting rights groups and voters ahead of the 2024 elections that could prevent thousands of ballots from being unfairly rejected due to witness certificates with an incomplete address.
A startup founded by two battery scientists is using electricity instead of furnaces to make climate-friendly cement.
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, as of January 1, out-of-pocket costs for insulin in Medicare are now capped at $35 per monthly prescription for Medicare Part D recipients. WOOOOOT! 🪓
Harry Dunn, the U.S. Capitol Police officer who rose to prominence for his defense of the Capitol on Jan. 6, and for his emotional public testimony describing the attack, announced that he was running for Congress in Maryland’s third district.
Floridians Protecting Freedom announced that they’d surpassed the threshold for a measure that would protect abortion rights before the 24th week of pregnancy, and wipe out the six-week ban signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis next year. 🪓
Nonprofits can now receive the Inflation Reduction Act’s solar tax credit as a direct refund. Allowing nonprofit solar installers to claim the credit as a direct refund means they can pass that savings onto customers who can’t access it themselves. 🪓
The economy added 216,000 jobs in December, capping off a year’s worth of solid gains. 🪓
The Biden administration announced it is providing $162 million to Arizona high-tech manufacturer Microchip Technology to support the domestic production of computer chips. 🪓
More than 500 gun purchases have been blocked since Biden’s new gun law requiring stricter background checks for young people went into effect in 2022. 🪓
On the eve of a legal battle in New York, Wayne LaPierre stepped down as the longtime chief of the National Rifle Association. 🪓
The EV share of new cars increased more than fivefold in the last three years, while the share of plug-in hybrids quadrupled. At that pace of acceleration, EVs will make up half of new car sales by 2026 or so. These two developments reduced the emissions of the vehicle fleet by roughly 6 percent in 2022, and perhaps 11 percent in 2023. 🪓
The Biden-Harris Administration announced it is withholding payments to three more student loan servicers as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s continued efforts to strengthen protections for student loan borrowers and hold servicers accountable. 🪓
Starting this week, Alabamans won’t have to pay tax on any income earned after their 40th hour of work in a week.
The share of electricity generated from fossil fuels in the UK fell by 22 percent in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching the lowest level in 66 years. Renewable electricity generation, meanwhile, rose six-fold from 2008, despite falling slightly from 2022 due to a decline in nuclear output.
A new drug that destroys the outer membrane of certain bacteria could work against infections when antibiotics fail.
Last year, U.S. flight cancellations declined to their lowest rate in a decade.
France-based Carrefour, one of the world’s largest grocery chains, told customers Thursday it is pulling Lay’s, Doritos, Lipton teas and other PepsiCo products in protest of increased prices. We should do this here!
More toxic air pollution has been averted by London’s ultra-low emission zones than is produced by the capital’s airports or its river and rail transport combined, according to a new analysis.
The number of electric school buses operating or delivered in the United States more than doubled in 2023. 🪓
NY just became the 10th state to ban wildlife killing contests. 🪓
The Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision made possible by the newly liberal court, ruled that the maps violated the Wisconsin Constitution and must be redrawn in time for the 2024 elections. 🪓
A new aviation company has developed a type of jet fuel made entirely from human sewage. It has a 90% lower carbon footprint than standard jet fuel.
The New York attorney general asked the judge who had overseen Trump’s civil fraud trial to penalize him about $370 million, saying the trial had demonstrated that he had gained that amount through unlawful conduct. 🪓
Workers’ paychecks are growing more quickly than prices. 🪓
Democratic Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes says a statewide system to text voters when their ballots are going out and received will be up and running this coming year. 🪓
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed a bill into law permitting 17-year-olds to vote in the state's primaries if they will turn 18 by the next general election. The change takes effect in 2026.1 🪓
In an effort to reduce waste, Starbucks is now allowing customers to use their personal drinking containers for drive-thru and mobile orders, and get a small discount, too. (Good, but I’m still boycotting them.)
A Texas court has declined to revive a gas tycoon’s defamation lawsuit against former Democratic Congressman Beto O’Rourke, ending a legal battle that once threatened to repress criticism of billionaires’ political donations.2
Wells Fargo workers in New Mexico became the first workers at a major U.S. bank to unionize in decades after a successful union election last month. 🪓
A change to the federal EV incentive that took effect Monday could widen access for low and middle-income buyers who want to go electric but have been excluded by high prices. 🪓
Solar is now the cheapest form of electricity in most countries around the world.
A federal appeals court has ruled that Jan. 6 defendants can be found culpable of “disorderly" or “disruptive” conduct inside the Capitol even if they weren't personally violent or destructive.
Watch This! 👀
For the heck of it. Ron DeSantis on Bad Lip Reading.
Thanks, Jessica. Good stuff!
Thank you, Jessica, for your faithful contributions to our mental health, perspective, and resolve!